Outside of probably the top 10 teams in the nation, a few bounces one way or another is all that separates most 10 win teams from most 7-8 win teams.
Aside from miscellaneous breaks, there's not a huge difference in what we've seen this year versus last year. I won't bother even bringing up the defense because they've been fantastic, much better than last year's very solid effort.
Offensively, quarterback and receiver play are the main culprits. The offensive line was terrible last year too. This team missed senior leadership at receiver without Berrios and Herndon. When they needed a big catch on third down to save a drive, who could they go to? Richards got hurt, Jeff Thomas was occasionally great but then he went crazy, Cager and Harley had drop issues, the freshmen all had some type of issue keeping them off the field or hurting their performance. Langham is a fifth option at best, not an every down player. No veteran presence at tight end, even if just for a leadership role. The quarterback spot has been discussed a ton here but in a nutshell, Rosier was exposed and actually regressed. They seemed to gain some momentum when they made the move to Perry but pulling him early in the Virginia game killed it. I don't know what goes on in practice or in the QB film room but for whatever reason, Richt was too scared to play any of the young guys until the season was already in the trash.
Honestly, if you would have told me they'd have big improvement in rushing yards per game and third down conversions at the beginning of the season, I'd have booked tickets to Charlotte. Quarterback is a mess. Receiver is worse. There's hope because of the amount of young talent at both positions but man, the have looked bad this year.
